Left Waiting
by Darth Mannykin
Summary: Cloud always left her waiting. He always did. Tifa being herself always waited for him. Is this time going to be any different?


The black haired young woman sat at a small round table basking in a dull light. Two small candles were positioned on both sides and about to go out. Rain was pounding hard against the plain window and she found herself gazing out of it and off into the distance. With her head rested on her hands and her elbow propping herself up she sunk lower in her seat. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes and slowly trailed their way down her pale cheeks and to her rosy pink lips before reaching her chin. With all the elegance of running water they fell from her chin and splashed onto the table leaving stains of her tears. She waited. She waited for hours, and still he did not show. Every time he never showed up. It ripped her heart into a million pieces. He never even knew about the heartache she had been going through. She would never allow him to know, ever. She would never let her true feelings show. The young woman sighed deeply, and adverted her eyes to the hard wood of the floor. She thought for sure this time would be different but it was just the same. He promised. Just like every time he promised, and just like every time he let her down. These days he always did. With a sniff she used the back of her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. She had shed too many tears because of him and he didn't even have a clue.

"_Another night alone. Another miserable night alone. Why do I even bother? He obviously doesn't care about me so why should I care about him? I love him…I loved him…I just don't know anymore. I just can't do this anymore."_

With fresh tears in her eyes she stood from the chair. Feeling a little dizzy at first she used her arms to support her frail frame from falling. After a while her dizziness passed and she stepped to the side. Carefully she blew out the dying candles with a soft breath. Without as much as a peep she moved towards the stairs. When she reached the bottom before stepping up she quickly glanced over her shoulder, maybe hoping to see him standing there but much to her disappointment all that was there was the blackness of the night. A small depressed sigh escaped her partially open lips. Clenching her tired eyes shut she made her way up the stairs and into her dark bedroom.

She layed in bed her long raven hair tucked neatly at her side and staring up to the ceiling which, in this light almost seemed black. The only thing darker was the shadows dancing across it. They werent normal shadows, they were scary shadows. Shadows with claws and sharp teeth, scary shadows that jumped out at you and seemed to be waiting for you to fall asleep so they could pounce. The woman watched with sleepy sore eyes the shadows as they moved. She used to be scared of those kinds of things but after one night with Cloud and she wasn't scared anymore. She closed her eyes as she remembered that night clearly. After all it had been the closest she had ever been with him. A small smile tugged at her lips.

_It had been raining hard the past week and the city of Edge was flooded with cold water. The temperature had dropped dramatically and it was freezing. Thick layers of frost had formed and stuck to the windows. She had found shelter under her heavy wool duvy but she was still extremely cold. It had never been this bad in her life. She couldn't stop shaking. The young woman thought she was going to die from the cold but she would never admit that. She would never let a weakness show. She clenched the blankets so tight to her small body that her knuckles went extremely white and she took from the blankets every ounce of warmth they offered. She coulndn't stand it. She was so sick of this bad weather and by the looks of it it seemed like it would never go away. Big scary shadows loomed over her and scared her with every move they made. She had hated the shadows ever since she was a little girl and Cloud went away. She just didn't feel safe and they seemed out to get her. They were everywhere._

_Suddenly lightning flashed and lit up her dark room breifly making the shadows disappear. Her scared brown eyes snapped open, clearly she was frightened, and she swore she saw a face and red eyes amongst the shadows staring down at her.m She would never admit that she was afraid. The thunder was soon to follow and made her jump clearly off her bed and a small scream escaped her lips. She used her hands to quickly muffle it and hoped to god Cloud didn't hear, but he did hear. He heard everything._

_Cold mako blue eyes snapped open, a serious looked etched onto their wearers face. A deep frown made by his soft pink lips. His skin was a pale white and cold but that wasn't on his mind. He woke in a cold sweat from the bad dreams he had been having. His eyebrows resembled complete diaganals as he listened carefully. Something wasn't right at all. He pushed himself up, his bare chest showing. He placed a hand to his forehead to stop the throbbing before running it through his spikey blonde hair. He needed to go check up on her, he had to go check up on her. He would never be able to sleep unless he did. _

_He spun his legs over the side of the bed, his muscles crying out in pain as he did so. His bare feet touched the icy cold floor and immediately sent a shock of cold throughout his whole body. The blonde shivered for a second before shaking it off. With out further delay he stood up. For a second he just stood there with his eyes clenched shut. He was so dizzy. He just swayed in a daze on the spot. A quick flash illuminated his room and thunder boomed almost giving him a fright, almost. His eyes snapped open and returned to their cold but worried state. He stepped heavily over the hard wood of the floors yet he did not make a sound. He was strange in that way. He could be quiet as a mouse if he wanted to be. He reached the hall and his mind began to wonder._

_It had been a long time since he had talked to her. He recalled this evening when he had walked in after work. He had been such a prick and he would be the first to admit that now. He remembered the look on her face. The pain in her eyes. The way her body shook and her bottom lip quivered but he didn't do anything to cheer her up. He was such a jerk. All she was doing was trying to help him and get him to talk but he always just threw it back in her face. So why if he knew he was doing it did he keep doing this to her? The answer to this question he did not know but he did this to her everytime and he just couldn't stop. He wanted to stop himself but just like everytime he screwed up. He wished he could and just tell her but he couldn't and he hated himself for it._

_"Hey." she said half whispered unsure if she should have said anything at all._

_He just granted as he walked straight past her like he didn't even see her. His face wore the same expression it usually did. Just like he was deep in thought or something between that and being angry._

_"How was your day?" she asked determined to get some sort of response out of him._

_Again he said nothing. Nothing escaped his lips at all._

_"Cloud!" she spoke sternly staring hard at him. Still she got nothing from him. "Cloud!" she said again this time more ergently. She placed a hand on her hip to get her point across. She just wanted something, anything but all she got from him was nothing and that's what happened everytime. It was getting her down and she wondered just how much longer she could last like this._

_Hearing the ergency in her voice Cloud turned around. He stared at her shaking body, studied everything about it. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Finally he exhaled deeply which sounded more like an annoyed sigh but it wasn't that way at all. She read him completey wrong._

_"If you don't want to be here Cloud, then go. I get it."_

_The spikey haired blonde just stared at her hurt by her sudden out burst. All he could do was stare, his mouth slightly open. He went to speak . He wanted to say what was onm his mind but no matter how hard he tried absolutely nothing came out. Then he found himself getting angry and frustrated. The blonde closed his slightly opened mouth which turned into a deep frown. If he didn't leave then he would have said something he would have regreted so he left. He turned his back to her and left._

_Slowly he creeped down the hall thinking of nothing but her. He hoped, prayed that she was okay. After what felt like an eternity he reached her door. It looked so big and daunting. He had only ever been in her room a few times before and these times she did not know about. He stood there for a long time just staring at the door knob like a scared child afraid of the dark. He had never noticed its beauty before, after all it was just a door knob. It was a polished silver and it looked old. He thought it looked like an antique. Slowly he reached out his hand and rested his hand in the knob while he tried to build up enough courage to actually open the door. Finally he swallowed the massive lump in his throat and spun the knob. Cautiously the spikey haired blonde pushed open the door of the dark bedroom and stepped inside._

_"Tifa?"_

We could be happy cant you see, if you'd let me be the one to hold you and keep you here with me


End file.
